Joey Logano Wins The Clash from the LA Coliseum

 Joey Logano won the Busch Light Clash on Sunday afternoon from the LA Coliseum.

The season-opening exhibition race was hyped up for months, as it was the debut of NASCAR’s Next Gen car.  Held at a track other than the Daytona International Speedway for the first time, the race was run on a 1/4 mile track in the LA Coliseum that was built in less than two months. 

Logano echoed many who were part of the race when he said this event was a win for NASCAR.

“This is an amazing event,” Logano said.  “Such a huge step in our industry to be able to do this.  Put on an amazing race for everybody.”

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Kyle Busch was dominant throughout the weekend, and won the pole and his qualifying heat.  After leading the most laps, Busch lost the lead to Logano on a late restart and wasn’t able to get back to the front to challenge for the lead.

Logano said his team found speed overnight after struggling in practice.

“The guys working on the car did an amazing job to find our speed,” Logano said.  “This is special; to get the first Next Gen win, first win out here at the Coliseum.  It’s a special one.”

Busch said he used up his equipment trying to catch back up to Logano with the laps winding down.

“I was being perfect, doing everything I thought I needed to do to keep the tires underneath me,” Busch said.  “When I got close…just overheated the tires and smoked them in three laps.”

“Disappointing…came out here, win the pole, lead laps, run up front.  The finish goes green and it’s not chaotic and we can’t win.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kyle Busch

3. Austin Dillon

4. Erik Jones

5. Kyle Larson

6. William Byron

7. Cole Custer

8. Christopher Bell

9. AJ Allmendinger

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Chase Elliott

12. Harrison Burton

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Daniel Suarez

15. Martin Truex Jr.

16. Michael McDowell

17. Ryan Blaney

18. Bubba Wallace

19. Justin Haley

20. Ryan Preece

21. Tyler Reddick

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Denny Hamlin

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Preview: Top 10 Movies of 2022

 I haven't done this feature on the blog in a few years, but recently a friend at work got me back into using Letterboxd on a regular basis.  This allowed me to move all my IMDb ratings over to the Letterboxd app, which gave me an interesting review of all 900+ movies that I've rated on the platform.

With how excited I was for Halloween Kills and Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021, I figured I'd take a look ahead and see what movies I was most excited for in 2022.

And before we begin, all release dates are subject to change.

10. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (November 11)

I'm excited for the next installment in Black Panther, but it just doesn't get me as hyped knowing that Chadwick Boseman won't be under the cowl.  It's yet to be seen whether this movie even makes it's release date, as the production continues to struggle with injuries to, and anti-vax rhetoric by, star Letitia Write.

9. Thor: Love and Thunder (July 8)

Thor hasn't always been my favorite Avenger over the years, but the most recent character arcs throughout Infinity War and Endgame were fantastic.  While Chris Hemsworth won't be the one wielding Mjilnor, it will be cool to see Natalie Portman return to the franchise.  And with Taika Waititi in the director's chair once again, I'm sure this movie will be quite enjoyable.

8. Scream (January 14)

I only watched the Scream movies for the first time a few years ago, so I'm not as attached to this franchise as I am to the other slashers.  I was only three when the first movie came out, so by the time I was old enough to watch these types of movies, Michael, Freddy and Jason were all over AMC's FearFest and Ghostface was nowhere to be found.  I'm still pretty excited to see where they take the franchise in this fifth installment.

7. Morbius (April 1)

The extended Sony Spider-Verse has been pretty good, with two fun Venom movies already released.  I've liked Jared Leto as an actor since seeing him in Fight Club, so I'm very excited to see what he can do as Dr. Michael Morbius.  All the rumors circulating that this could be part of a Venom/Morbius/Amazing Spider-Man universe only makes me more excited.

6. Lightyear (June 17)

A movie about the "actual" space cadet that inspired the toy voiced by Tim Allen in the Toy Story movies.  Enough said.

5. Uncharted (February 18)

I've only played through the first game on PS4, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and will eventually get around the other games in the series.  The trailer for this looked fantastic, and it seems they may have nailed the aesthetic of the games.  Plus Tom Holland has quickly become such a bankable star, teaming him up with Mark Wahlberg seems like a good play here.

4. The Black Phone (June 24)

Everything about this movie looks awesome.  Based on a short story by Joe Hill, this brings Ethan Hawke back into a movie with some serious Sinister energy.  Add to that a mask that was sculped by Tom Savini's workshop, and this could be a low-key horror gem.  Unfortunately the movie was already bumped back nearly six months from its original January release date.

3. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 6)

Doctor Strange really messed things up in Spider-Man: No Way Home, and this movie is going to see him trying to deal with the fallout.  This movie is rumored to tie together some of the Disney+ shows, along with some other Marvel properties now under Disney's large umbrella.  I'm looking forward to seeing this one, especially as it may have a much darker tone to it.

2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Part One (October 7)

The first movie in this series was a shocking hit, and with the help of a soundtrack featuring Post Malone, the movie became a global sensation.  This sequel looks to continue on that, and features a neat animation style along with giving Oscar Isaac a bigger chance to shine as Spider-Man 2099 (which is one of my favorite iterations of the character).

1. Halloween Ends (October 14)

Here's the deal, I didn't love Halloween Kills.  I enjoyed it, as I do with all the movies in the Halloween franchise (outside of Resurrection), but I just don't know what they're going for.  David Gordon Green and Danny McBride went to great lengths to humanize Michael to make him a man instead of an unstoppable killing machine in Halloween, only to turn around and make him an unstoppable killing machine in Kills.  I'm curious to see where they take the franchise, and I'll definitely be there opening night.

Larson Wins at Phoenix, Caps Off Dominant Year with Championship

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup Series Championship race from Phoenix Raceway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his 10th victory of the season and win his first NASCAR Cup Series Championship.

Larson was dominant all season and ran up front for most of the race at Phoenix.  Throughout the race, Larson and his teammate Chase Elliott seemed to have the strongest short-run cars, and the race came down to a late restart with just over 20 laps to go.

Larson pitted under the final caution as the fourth of the championship drivers, but his pit crew got him off pit road first and he was able to control the final restart from the lead.

On the final restart, Larson pulled out to the lead and held off a challenge from Martin Truex Jr.  Larson was able to hold off the other championship drivers and picked up his first NASCAR championship.

Larson said his team made the difference on the final pit stop.

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

“Without my pit crew on that last stop, we would not be standing here,” Larson said.  “They’re the true winners of this race; they’re the true champions.  I’m blessed to be a part of this group.”

Larson missed most of the 2020 season after uttering a racial slur during an iRacing event, and teamed up with Hendrick Motorsports for the first time this year.

Larson said during his time away from the sport last year, he wasn’t sure if he would ever drive a Cup Series car again.

“I didn’t even think I’d be racing a Cup car a year and half ago, and to win a championship is crazy,” Larson said.  “Thank you so much to Rick Hendrick…and every single person at Hendrick Motorsports, this win is for all of us.”

“This event was crazy and this format’s wild.  I’m glad we were able to get it done.”

Truex challenged Larson on the restart for the win, but could not hang with Larson over the final 20 laps.

Regardless of how fast he was the run before, Truex said the clean air ultimately won out at the end of the race.

“Clean air seemed to be a good bit of an advantage there; whoever got out front was good for 20, 30, 40 laps, and then the long-run cars would start coming around,” Truex said.  “Ultimately we needed to beat him off pit road.”

“We win and lose as a team, and I’m really proud of our efforts this year.  [Larson] had a hell of a season and congratulations to them.  Second sucks; I hate it.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Denny Hamlin

4. Ryan Blaney

5. Chase Elliott

6. Aric Almirola

7. Kyle Busch

8. Kevin Harvick

9. Christopher Bell

10. Brad Keselowski

11. Joey Logano

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Cole Custer

14. Ross Chastain

15. Austin Dillon

16. Kurt Busch

17. William Byron

18. Alex Bowman

19. Tyler Reddick

20. Ryan Preece

21. Daniel Suarez

22. Erik Jones

23. Ryan Newman

24. Michael McDowell

25. Chris Buescher

26. Justin Haley

27. BJ McLeod

28. Cody Ware

29. Joey Gase

30. Josh Bilicki

31. Garrett Smithley

32. Corey LaJoie

33. David Starr

34. Anthony Alfredo

35. Chase Briscoe

36. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

37. Quin Houff

38. Timmy Hill

39. Bubba Wallace

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

NASCAR 21: Ignition Review

NASCAR 21: Ignition, the new officially-licensed game from Motorsport Games, was released last week for PlayStation, Xbox and Windows.  I unfortunately purchased it and played it, and now it's time to tear it to shreds.

This game was once again built from the ground-up using Unreal Engine, and the graphics do offer a slight upgrade over the NASCAR Heat series.  Unfortunately that's where the upside to this game ends.

No rearview mirror: another questionable choice by the developers

The car-handling is extremely rough, with the car constantly drifting to the left.  With this constant drift, you need to keep hitting the stick to the right, but any slight over-correct will send your car careening towards the wall and no amount of steering will stop your car from avoiding a collision.

The overall physics are also terrible throughout the game.  Any sort of contact between you and another driver immediately spins you out with no chance to save your car.  Those wrecks collect the rest of the field, with cars flying through the air and massive pile-ups blocking the track for multiple laps.

The car also has, what I assume, are the same brakes as a Smart Car.  Even with the racing line on, I could not figure out when to brake to avoid contact with the wall or blow through a road course corner.  Another problem is that it is so inconsistent as to when the braking will actually stop the car that it's nearly impossible to use braking points on the track.

The game was built from scratch, but it took a step back in features.  The Xfinity and Truck Series are nowhere to be found.  Split-screen was also not carried over from the Heat series, so I guess I'll keep NASCAR Heat 5 around to play with friends (and also in general because it's a passable game).

Online might be the strongest racing the game has to offer, mainly due to the fact that every race starts with a massive pile-up that strings the field out.  The races don't start with the customary "coming to green" graphic; instead it drops you from a black screen straight into a split-second after you've gained control of your car. 

The game does finally bring back an actual paint booth to customize your own ride, but even that seems half-assed.  You can only place sponsor logos on the car one side at a time, which ruins any real chance of your car being symmetrical.

I've also gone in to see if I can mess with the settings at all to make it playable, and it seems like Motorsport Games thinks that "difficulty" is the same as "assists," as the customary easy/medium/hard settings for the AI are not there.  The AI also does not understand where you race on the track, and will stick to their line regardless of how much of your car is currently there.

"Do you think if we put an iPad in the car, they'll
think this is F1?"
- Someone on the development team, probably.

Overall, the game is a laggy, buggy mess.  I'm convinced the developers watched the FOX broadcasts of iRacing to figure out what made racing games realistic and then spent none of the time required to make it work.  Someone on the development team definitely had the job of playing the F1 games to see what makes them great, and apparently only thought it was the dashboard computer you have before driving onto the track.

As someone who has been playing NASCAR games since NASCAR Thunder 2002 and has gotten the Platinum trophy on PS4 for every game in the NASCAR Heat series, I feel like I have a grasp of what makes a NASCAR game great.  This game fails at every turn, and I can say, without a doubt, this is the worst NASCAR game I've ever played.

To be honest, I'm legitimately upset I bought the more expensive "Champions Edition" of the game, and I don't think I will be playing much of it again until they fix the numerous issues plaguing the experience.  If it's anything like the Heat series, we may be waiting for awhile.

Final verdict: 3/10 

Larson Continues Dominance with Kansas Victory

Kyle Larson won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his ninth victory of the season and his third in a row.

Larson continued his dominance on the Cup Series field on Sunday, and led a race-high 130 laps after starting from the pole.

Larson had to hold off his teammates over the final stage, with Chase Elliott and William Byron threatening for the lead throughout the last half of the race.

Larson said he thought Byron and Elliott had faster cars, but that he was able to take advantage of close racing on the final restart to get to a lead no one was able to overcome.

Meg Oliphant/Getty Images

“Had a couple good restarts there and it kind of worked out for me,” Larson said.  “[Kevin Harvick] got to [Elliott’s] inside at the flag stand and kind of choked that lane up and got me clear to the lead.”

The victory comes on the 17th anniversary of a plane crash that took the lives of 10 Hendrick Motorsports team members and family members, including Rick Hendrick’s son.

Larson said it’s special to get a victory on the anniversary of the accident in a paint scheme reminiscent of Ricky Hendrick.

“I want to dedicate this win to Rick and Linda [Hendrick],” Larson said.  “I didn’t ever get to meet Ricky or any of the other men and women who lost their lives that day, but I felt the importance of this race.”

Elliott had a fast car in the closing laps, and began to cut into Larson’s lead until he made contact with the wall.

Elliott had to settle for second, and said the damage to his car slowed him down.

“I didn’t really have a choice; once I hit it, it hurt it pretty bad,” Elliott said.  “Feel like we had something for Kyle there, just got the wall there off of two.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. William Byron

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Christopher Bell

9. Joey Logano

10. Austin Dillon

11. Alex Bowman

12. Chris Buescher

13. Ross Chastain

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Michael McDowell

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Cole Custer

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Parker Kligerman

21. Ryan Preece

22. Tyler Reddick

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Corey LaJoie

26. Aric Almirola

27. Ryan Newman

28. Kyle Busch

29. Erik Jones

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cody Ware

32. Joey Gase

33. Josh Bilicki

34. David Starr

35. Quin Houff

36. Ryan Ellis

37. Ryan Blaney

38. Anthony Alfredo

39. Justin Haley

40. Chad Finchum

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Larson Dominates in Texas, Clinches Spot for Championship Finale

Kyle Larson won the AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday afternoon at Texas Motor Speedway to lock himself into the Championship Round of the Playoffs.

Larson was dominant on Sunday, and led a race-high 256 laps after starting from the pole.

In his first race back at Texas after a dominant All-Star Race victory earlier in the summer, Larson said this was one of the best cars he’s ever had using NASCAR’s 550 HP package.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

“I knew we’d have a good shot to win today, our car was amazing,” Larson said.  “That was probably the best 550-package intermediate car we’ve had all year.”

While dominant throughout the race, Larson had to hold onto the lead over numerous restarts in the race’s final 50 laps.  Brad Keselowski, Tyler Reddick and William Byron all challenged for the lead over the final restarts, but Larson was able to hold off all challengers on his way to victory lane.

Larson said the pushes from those restarting behind him helped him hold onto the lead restart after restart.

“I really tried to stay patient on the throttle and keep them to my back bumper,” Larson said.  “Thankfully I was able to just barely clear them every time into 1 and not have to worry about having to fight off of 2.”

Larson will now have three weeks to prepare for the Championship Round at Phoenix, and he said his team can put more resources towards their car to fight for a Cup Series title.

“I definitely think we can shift a little more to our Phoenix car,” Larson said.  “I think we should have a good shot; our team’s been so strong all year long, might as well close it out now.”

Byron finished second to his teammate on Sunday and was the highest-finishing non-Playoff driver; he was also one of the few drivers who could hang with Larson throughout most of the race.

Byron said he and his team will continue to fight for wins even after they were eliminated from Playoff contention.

“This week we had a pretty good run and had a shot at a win,” Byron said.  “We just never quite got control.  I think [Larson] was definitely better than us the first stage, and then I was right there with him the rest of the time.”

“We’re here to stay. We’ve got a got a good…young team, myself included.  I think we’re building something there for years to come.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. William Byron

3. Christopher Bell

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kevin Harvick

6. Ryan Blaney

7. Chase Elliott

8. Kyle Busch

9. Tyler Reddick

10. Daniel Suarez

11. Denny Hamlin

12. Erik Jones

13. Matt DiBenedetto

14. Austin Dillon

15. Chase Briscoe

16. Kurt Busch

17. Michael McDowell

18. Aric Almirola

19. Cole Custer

20. Corey LaJoie

21. Chris Buescher

22. BJ McLeod

23. David Starr

24. Garrett Smithley

25. Martin Truex Jr.

26. Josh Bilicki

27. Timmy Hill

28. Ross Chastain

29. Anthony Alfredo

30. Joey Logano

31. Quin Houff

32. Bubba Wallace

33. Alex Bowman

34. Ricky Stenhouse

35. Ryan Newman

36. Ryan Preece

37. Justin Haley

38. Cody Ware

39. Joey Gase

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Larson Wins Amid Playoff Drama at the Roval

Kyle Larson won the Bank of America Roval 400 from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course in a wild Playoff cutoff race on Sunday afternoon.

Larson had to overcome a battery and alternator issue early in the race, and it seemed like he may even miss the cutoff for the next round of the Playoffs.  After getting the issues fixed, Larson was able to work his way back up through the field and he was at the front late in the race.

On the final restart, Larson was able to get around Denny Hamlin to get to the lead, and held off Tyler Reddick and William Byron over the final run to pick up his seventh victory of the season.

Larson said he was surprised to be standing in victory lane following his early battery issues that forced the team to go under the hood and replace the alternator belt.

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

“It wasn’t looking too good, thankfully everybody on our 5 car did a great job of staying calm,” Larson said.  “I knew I was going to have some sketchy moments; just had to pick my way through traffic and stay calm.”

Byron came into the race in a must-win situation, and he was almost able to pull off the upset. 

After racing hard with Larson and Reddick over the final run, he spun out on the final lap, which relegated him to an 11th-place finish and knocked him out of the Playoffs.

Byron said he was just pushing too hard at the end with everything on the line.

“Everything was looking like it was definitely going to be a good day…looking like we were going to have a shot to win,” Byron said.  “I was just too mad there at the end and made a mistake.”

The Playoff cutoff line was chaotic halfway through the race after a handful of drivers had problems early in the race. 

Kevin Harvick got into Chase Elliott and sent him in the wall, heavily damaging the rear of Elliott’s car. The contact seemed to be payback for an incident last month at Bristol, when Elliott held up Harvick and cost Harvick a victory.

Elliott was able to recover from the incident and finished the race without a rear-bumper cover.  Headed into Turn 1, Harvick locked up his tires with Elliott behind him.  Harvick slammed into the wall, ending his Playoff hopes.

Harvick said the incident was a lesson that Elliott needed to learn.

“I felt like I needed to go get a couple spots back that I lost and I got the left-front locked up and couldn’t get it to turn,” Harvick said.  “Sometimes real life teaches you good lessons.”

Elliott said he isn’t worried about more retaliation from Harvick with four races remaining in the season.

“For us, we’re just eyes forward and just excited to be moving on,” Elliott said.  “[Harvick’s] certainly not changing…just want to wish them a merry offseason and a happy Christmas.”

Byron, Harvick, Alex Bowman and Christopher Bell were the four drivers eliminated following this round of the Playoffs.  The remaining eight drivers will begin to fight for a spot in the Final Four next Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Tyler Reddick

3. Chris Buescher

4. Kyle Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Matt DiBenedetto

7. Joey Logano

8. Christopher Bell

9. Ryan Blaney

10. Alex Bowman

11. William Byron

12. Chase Elliott

13. Daniel Suarez

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Austin Dillon

16. Michael McDowell

17. Erik Jones

18. Cole Custer

19. Ryan Preece

20. Brad Keselowski

21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

22. Chase Briscoe

23. Ross Chastain

24. Aric Almirola

25. Kurt Busch

26. Anthony Alfredo

27. Joey Hand

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Martin Truex Jr.

30. Quin Houff

31. Scott Heckert

32. Timmy Hill

33. Kevin Harvick

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Corey LaJoie

36. Cody Ware

37. Justin Haley

38. AJ Allmendinger

39. Ryan Newman

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images